RUNNING UPDATES ON THE CONFLICT IN UKRAINE - 03.11.2024
Including geopolitical issues affecting the balance of power in the ongoing end game war to establish our common future, a closely monitored prison planet or tolerance for diverse modes of governance.
THE ROAD TO THE ULTIMATE CONCLUSION OF WORLD WAR III RUNS THROUGH HERE.
*** HOW LONG CAN ZELENSKY’S MALIGNANT REGIME LAST NOW? ***
“Ukraine. What is the truth...?
Why won’t western media tell both sides…?”
COLLECTIVE WEST-UKRAINE <-> RUSSIA
ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN: Russia Offensive Accelerates, Key Villages Fall; Zelensky Poland Quarrel; Iran Again Hints Nuclear.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU of THE DURAN: Moldova election. Poland-Ukraine weapons loan. Harrison endorses Harris. EURO Greens; Stein drop out.
Harvest Time, Vyshneve And Maksymivka Have Fallen, Offensive West Of Selydove Resumed. MS 2024.11.03
The Gradual Collapse of Ukrainian Defenses Continues | RUAF Capture 49SQKM & 2 Settlements.
Ukraine Loses Over 250 Soldiers in Kursk Region in Past Day - Russian Defense Ministry.
The Ukrainian armed forces lost over 250 soldiers in the western Russian region of Kursk over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
"Over the past day, the Ukrainian armed forces lost over 250 servicepeople, an armored vehicle, an artillery piece, a mortar and three vehicles. Seven soldiers of the Ukrainian armed forces surrendered," the ministry said in a statement.
In total, Ukraine has lost more than 29,100 servicepeople and 180 tanks during the Kursk offensive, the ministry added.
Ukraine Loses Over 250 Soldiers in Kursk Region in Past Day - Russian Defense Ministry.
Zelensky ‘looked worn and stressed’ in meeting with Americans – NYT.
US officials reportedly no longer view the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a stalemate.
A sense of pessimism is growing in Kiev as Ukrainians await the outcome of the US presidential election while dealing with low morale and a weapons shortages, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Friday.
The paper said the US military and intelligence officials believe that the conflict is “no longer a stalemate,” given Russia’s recent successes on the battlefield.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky “looked worn and stressed, anxious about his troops’ battlefield setbacks as well as the US elections” when he met with American officials in Kiev last week, the NYT said, noting that Ukrainian troops are having to deal with low morale, a lack of reinforcements, and an inability to outgun the Russian forces.
The paper cited an unnamed Ukrainian major stationed at the border near Russia’s Kursk Region as saying that the Ukrainians are “constantly losing previously occupied positions,” while Moscow’s forces have an advantage in men and artillery.
According to the NYT, US officials believe, however, the Ukrainians would have a chance to exploit “Russia’s weaknesses” if the aid from Washington “remains strong until next summer.”
Read more: The US is almost done playing with Ukraine
Russian troops have been steadily gaining ground in recent months, having captured the heavily fortified mining town of Ugledar in the Donbass early last month. Moscow has also launched an offensive aimed at pushing Ukrainian army units from the Kursk Region, which was invaded in August.
Zelensky has appeared increasingly worried over the course of the conflict, admitting earlier this year that Kiev had effectively become “a hostage” to the highly unpredictable US election. He urged Kiev’s foreign backed in July to redouble their efforts and help to end the conflict “as soon as possible.”
The BBC reported earlier this week that soldiers and ordinary Ukrainians were closely watching the presidential campaign in America, where Republican candidate Donald Trump, his running mate J.D. Vance, and several prominent Republicans have proposed conditioning aid to Ukraine or canceling it altogether.
“We should never give money anymore without the hope of a payback, or without ‘strings’ attached. The United States of America should be ‘stupid’ no longer,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in February.
He has repeatedly described Zelensky as “the greatest salesman on Earth” and claimed that, if reelected, he would quickly resolve the conflict between Moscow and Kiev through diplomacy.
Zelensky ‘looked worn and stressed’ in meeting with Americans – NYT.
EMIL COSMAN: Russia's largest offensive since invasion, captures largest territory in a week since start of year.
EMIL COSMAN: Australia strikes Russia first. Americans leave the US. Czech Pres. Poland's PM lies or is d@mb.
ALEX CHRISTOFOROU & ALEXANDER MERCOURIS of THE DURAN: Collective West hopes RUSSIAN economy will overheat and CRASH.
The situation on the front is extremely catastrophic for the Zelensky regime. Nebenzya.
GARLAND NIXON: THE COALITION OF CANNON FODDER - IMPERIAL COLLAPSE.
BORZZIKMAN: ODESSA on FIRE: Ukrainian Partisans Blew Up a NATO Military Train Along With Soldiers and Weapons.
NATO state’s PM blames West for sabotaging Ukraine peace talks.
Slovakia’s prime minister has said the conflict will not end as long as Western states keep sending weapons to Kiev.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico speaks at an event in Michalovce, Slovakia on April 11, 2024.
Western politicians did everything they could to derail the 2022 peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, the Slovak prime minister has said.
Robert Fico posted a video message posted on social media on Friday after returning from Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Fico openly criticized Western intervention in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, arguing that the end of hostilities is not possible as long as Kiev continues to receive military and financial aid.
He also praised China's efforts to find a diplomatic solution to end the fighting.
“We share the same opinion that it is impossible to immediately end the fighting as long as Ukraine continues to be militarily and financially supported by the West,” the Slovak politician noted.
Read more: EU member’s PM wants to attend Moscow Victory Day parade
He added that he shares concerns that tensions between Russia and NATO risk escalating into a nuclear war. Slovakia will join the Friends of Peace platform, which was launched in September by China and Brazil to promote a diplomatic resolution to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The prime minister hit back at British Ambassador to Slovakia Nigel Baker, who said earlier this week that it was “regrettable” that Fico gave an interview to Russia’s Rossiya-1 TV channel, and called Fico’s claim that the West was not interested in peace “untrue.”
“Slovakia is not Britain’s colony,” Fico said, adding that London had no right to complain about his media appearances. He blamed Kiev’s foreign backers for the failed peace negotiations in the spring of 2022.
Read more: Nuland confirms West told Zelensky to abandon peace deal
“It was the Western politicians who, in April 2022, shortly after the outbreak of the conflict, did everything they could in order not to have a realistic peace agreement signed,” he said. Fico dismissed Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s subsequent ‘peace formula’ proposal as “unrealistic.”
After assuming office in the fall of 2023, Fico suspended Bratislava’s military aid to Kiev and repeatedly called on the EU to focus on diplomacy.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian delegation abruptly walked away from the negotiating table in 2022, despite initially agreeing to drop its aspiration to join NATO and restrict the size of its army. Victoria Nuland, a former senior US State Department official, admitted in 2024 that Washington had advised Kiev not to sign the deal it was discussing with Moscow.
NATO state’s PM blames West for sabotaging Ukraine peace talks.
Medvedev warns that Western-led world order will soon collapse.
The countries operating within this system will be hurt the most when it happens, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council has said.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev speaks during an interview with RT TV Channel news anchor Rory Suchet at the Gorki state residence outside Moscow, Russia. © Sputnik/Ekaterina Shtukina
The so-called rules-based order imposed by the US and its allies on the global scene is an unstable structure, which is about to fall apart, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said in an exclusive interview with RT.
Creating crises such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in various places is how the US is trying to rule the world, Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, told the broadcaster on Saturday.
“So, the more crises they create, the better, they think, the situation is for America... It makes money from weapons, supplies, and by allocating money to its defense industry,” he said.
“The Americans are getting what they want at the price of more blood and casualties. This is why the Americans are engaging in feeding the war. But that system is coming to an end,” the former president warned.
The authorities in Washington “feel the world is falling out from under their feet and they are resisting it in every way possible,” he said.
This is why the Americans see BRICS and other unions currently being created around the globe, in which the US has no say, as “hostile,” Medvedev explained.
READ MORE: US could have prevented Ukraine conflict – Medvedev
Washington and its allies accuse the members of those groups of “violating the rules-based order,” but, at same time, cannot explain what this order is,” he said.
“I have carefully picked through the legal text and studied it: it is incomprehensible. It is not clear what the order is and who approved it. It is really just an idea of the US and its allies, while mostly in NATO, of how best to do business in the world,” the former president stressed.
According to Medvedev, the rules-based order is actually what the West believes “is right,” adding that “once you are out of this order, you’re a perpetrator.”
The uni-polar world that the US is trying to preserve is “always prone to war and unfortunately results in conflicts,” he said. Meanwhile, the multi-polar system that Russia and other BRICS members are working to build “implies making a connection between different poles” and creating “a world in balance [that] is always relatively stable,” he explained.
Medvedev warns that Western-led world order will soon collapse.
ISRAEL-WEST <-> PALESTINE-IRAN-SYRIA-IRAQ-LEBANON-YEMEN-VENEZUELA-DPRK
IRAN Today Live: What's REALLY Happening in IRAN Streets Today?!! 🇮🇷
Could Israel Become a FAILED State? | Aaron Bastani Meets Ilan Pappe.
GLEN DIESEN: Israel is in Deep Trouble (clip) - John Mearsheimer, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen.
UK and US interests are being pursued with utter disregard for Palestinian lives: UK MP.
KATIE HALPER: Palestinian Who Lost Hundreds Of Family Members DISRUPTS Defense Sec Lloyd Austin.
Palestine | Food supplies are insufficient to meet the needs of refugees in the Gaza Strip.
COLLECTIVE WEST <-> GLOBAL MAJORITY
GLENN GREENWALD: Darren Beattie Reveals U.S. Role In Lawfare Against Pakistani Leader Imran Khan.
DIMITRI LASCARIS: The New 'Red Scare' w/ Victor Grossman.
USA
Fyodor Lukyanov: Will Americans go for ‘globalist’ Harris or ‘patriot’ Trump?
The race for the White House has been short on ideas but big on insults. Neither candidate looks very inspiring.
By Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and research director of the Valdai International Discussion Club.
People watch the presidential debate during a debate watch party at Penn Social on September 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. © Alex Wong/Getty Images
The race for the US White House has been nervy and protracted, with the late forced withdrawal of President Joe Biden – seen even by his supporters as having little chance of winning – adding a twist during the summer. And episodes of political violence have been poisoning the atmosphere.
The political content has been poor – images and clichés instead of ideas. Towards the end, everything is reduced to crude personal attacks. Most observers and even participants realise that both candidates are, to put it mildly, suboptimal.
Kamala Harris was unexpectedly handed a lottery ticket that she has struggled to capitalize on. As vice-president, she has made little impact. Thus, at the heart of her truncated campaign was an attempt to convince voters that she had untapped potential. It didn’t quite work. It was conspicuous that the challenger has acted according to instructions, and that spontaneous reactions other than infectious laughter are thin on the ground. Her willingness to diametrically change views on key issues has failed to lend any ballast to the campaign, although the tactical calculations are clear.
Donald Trump has lost the flair of sensational novelty and does not exude the type of energy he did eight years ago. His narcissism, which used to be partly offset by a kind of lightness and enthusiasm, now often comes across as oppressive. And expectations that the former president would become more respectable with experience and take on the air of a wise statesman have not been fulfilled.
Whatever about the bona fides of the candidates, major political forces have rallied around them. Harris, who was not seriously considered in the spring, has united the most influential clans of Democrats. They joined the process less out of sympathy for her than out of fear of Trump. The latter, who once seemed like an eccentric freak whose antics made the Republican establishment cringe, now personifies his party and determines its direction. Despite the flaws of the rivals and their lack of coherent platforms, the choice Americans are making is clear.
Read more: The US is almost done playing with Ukraine
The Democratic Party inherits a political tradition that received a powerful boost at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. At that time, on a wave of the successful conclusion of the confrontation with the USSR, American self-esteem rose sharply. This allowed it to set itself far more ambitious goals, not only in terms of global influence, but also in terms of transforming the homeland. The disappearance of the Soviet adversary unleashed ambitions as well as resources. International dominance offered new opportunities, including for domestic development, but also imposed burdens that gradually began to contradict key internal interests. Nevertheless, the position of hyperpower is perceived as natural not only politically, but also morally and ethically. Especially since progressives, who form part of the democratic core, see themselves as agents of radical social change at home and abroad. “City upon a hill” is interpreted in an expansionist way.
The Republican Party has had a more complex journey over the same period. Seeing itself as the victor over world communism (hello, Ronald Reagan), thirty years later it denounces perceived Marxist domination of the US itself, thus reacting to the left-liberal turn of the Democrats. The Republicans also went through a phase of fascination with foreign expansion, for a time heavily influenced by the neoconservatives. But then the appeal of these policies to promote American interests faded. The more traditional approach of not carrying too much extra weight and taking care of your own came to the fore.
If we simplify the description, while sacrificing important details, we get a menu of ‘liberal-globalists’ versus ‘national-patriots.’ For all its populist primitiveness, it does reflect the choice facing Americans. It is certainly not a crossroads where turning one way or the other means irrevocably choosing a path. There will be no linear movement, because the country is vast, there are many conflicting factors, the society is complex and it doesn’t fall in line on command.
Although there is a caveat to the latter. The US is a very special country. Alexis de Tocqueville, describing American democracy nearly 200 years ago, noted its theatricality and susceptibility to targeted campaigns. The American style of public policy is an illustration of this. Constant marketing as a manifestation of the spirit of capitalism has become intertwined with the processes of social transformation embedded in the original revolutionary nature of the American experiment itself.
Now there are unprecedented opportunities for manipulation through modern means of communication. Thus, some vested interests, who are capable of mounting sophisticated influence efforts, can substantially influence the overall direction of the country’s development.
The globalist part of the establishment has had a significant influence since the end of the 20th century. What’s up in the air now is the ideological bent that will prevail after these elections.
Fyodor Lukyanov: Will Americans go for ‘globalist’ Harris or ‘patriot’ Trump?
ABBY MARTIN - CLAUDIA DE LA CRUZL Democratic Party Lawyers Kick Third Party Off Ballot in Swing States.
BREAKTHROUGH NEWS: BT On the Ground In Dearborn, Michigan Ahead of Election.
GLENN GREENWALD: Former Trump Speechwriter Darren Beattie On Dems' Last Resort Tactics in 2024.
MULTIPOLARITY - RUSSIA-CHINA / BRICS
Hungary's Orban Says BRICS Outperforming Western Economies.
The BRICS group of emerging-market powers has already outperformed the West in the global market, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Sunday, adding that the BRICS summit in Russia's Kazan highlighted the bloc's economic potential.
Kazan hosted the BRICS summit from October 22-24.
"The Eastern world summit was held in Kazan a week ago ...They have already expanded, there are more than 10 countries, and all of them met in Kazan. This is the economy of the Eastern world. Twenty years ago, this would not have been big news, but now these countries are worth more, according to economic indicators, than the Western economy," Orban told Hungarian broadcaster.
BRICS is an intergovernmental association created in 2006. Russia assumed the rotating presidency of the bloc on January 1, 2024. The year began with the accession of new members to the association. In addition to Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa, it now includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, according to the website of the Russian 2024 BRICS Chairmanship. Saudi Arabia has not reportedly formalized its participation but has been taking part in BRICS meetings.
Hungary's Orban Says BRICS Outperforming Western Economies.
CYRUS JANSSEN: India Just Changed the Future of Asia with THIS One Move!
GEORGE GALLOWAY - PROFESSOR MOHAMMAD MARANDI: BRICS Report.
EUROPE / UK
Is The European Economy Doomed? 3 Central Bankers Discuss Europe's Struggles.
REDACTED: Oh SH*T, something BIG is happening in Germany and Europe is SCREWED.
NON-ENGLISH NEWS
LIU SIVAYA: MONTAÑAS DE CUERPOS Y ESCOMBROS: ATAQUE RUSO HACE TEMBLAR A LOS BATALLONES NACIONALISTAS EN JÁRKOV.
ALEXANDRE GUERREIRO: Trump e Kamala contra o mundo.
젤렌스키의 심해지고 있는 상태.
RUSSIA / EXPATS IN RUSSIA
ALEXANDER JOHN LEE: Americans In Russia - Brandon Slabaugh.
MAPPING CHANNEL UPDATES
Harvest Time, Vyshneve And Maksymivka Have Fallen, Offensive West Of Selydove Resumed. MS 2024.11.03
Russian Air force eviscerates Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Ukrainian Air Defense Destroyed Completely, Several Villages Captured. Military Summary 2024.11.03
The Gradual Collapse of Ukrainian Defenses Continues | RUAF Capture 49SQKM & 2 Settlements.
Multiple settlements lost to Russia | Ukraine War SITREP.
Largest Advance In 30 Months Exposes Weak Point - WORST Possible Situation - Ukraine Map/News Update.
VICTORY BELONGS TO RUSSIA: IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
Each day that passes makes a conclusive Russian victory in the Donbass and beyond more certain. As Russia bolsters her forces, and weaponry, those of Ukraine decrease. Russian forces gain ready access to rest and recuperation as troop numbers increase. The increasingly exhausted and demoralised Ukrainian troops have an ever decreasing prospect of such respite. This situation is likely to bring them to complete breakdown as Russia unleashes the firepower of the more modern and advanced weaponry that is arriving with the newly mobilised Russian troops.
The various Ukrainian offensives are now weak when confronted by the reinforced Russian lines. A few futile efforts achieve quite miserable results before fire reigns down on the Ukrainian troops and they are forced back to their starting positions.
And now, all this being said, we have arrived at the wet, and later, freezing conditions where these pathetic Ukrainian forces will be subject to myriad forms of abject misery with death and injury all around them while they lie sodden or frozen, abandoned to their fate by Kiev.
The pitiable young and old of Ukraine have been frogmarched to their deaths as cannon-fodder while the bestial elites of the collective West urge their "president" to add more to their number there at the gates of Hell and their doom. We must feel for the majority of them as they are not the Nazis we revile, in most part they are decent men, fathers, sons, brothers, husband and uncles, who no doubt saw through the coup of 2014 for what it was. But sadly, their fate seems sealed.
Nothing will stop Russia now. Every factor favours them. Victory will be Russia's. In Donbass and beyond and in due course across the world.
Victory belongs to Russia: It is now only a matter of time.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
UPDATES TO BE ADDED HERE AS AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
THERE IS NO AVOIDING THE WEST TAKING AN ENORMOUS HIT OVER UKRAINE
They will use every possible device to avoid it, but the effects of the arrant stupidity, unconscionable irresponsibility & unbounded hubris of their absolutely wrongheaded actions cannot be hidden.
Doubling down all the way from the NATO summit in Bucharest where it was stated that Ukraine would at some point join NATO has brought the western powers to their greatest humiliation since the previous series of Afghanistan, Vietnam and, much further back in time, the Suez Crisis. We could also add Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen but for the moment let us focus on the first three which were the most obvious western humiliations in living memory.
Biden is doing his utmost to escape the blame and may succeed. His mental state of mind appears likely to preclude anything approaching a sharp awareness of the blame he cannot possibly avoid in this. An enormously embarrassing debacle is a mere few months away from exploding onto headlines worldwide. Biden will seek to shelter behind the focus on whoever is elected to be the next president in just a few days time. By January 2025 it is almost certain that there will be a general consensus across the western world that the Ukraine war is well and truly lost. The shit will then well and truly hit the fan.
Despite the spin devised by the White House professionals where Russia actually lost because it didn’t manage to take and occupy the entirety of Ukraine there is still likely to be a good proportion of the West that won’t be fooled. That the majority may well wish to believe the spin is also likely. The reality will be shunned to the greatest degree possible. That reality will be all that is important to Russia, not the continuation of the lies spread among western populations that have been a keynote since 2014. Russia will have its eye firmly focused on delivering what was promised, Ukraine never to join NATO, the Russian-speaking majority of the Donbass having their safety and security guaranteed in posterity and the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.
Despite the frantic attempt to cover western political arses and truly breathtaking, bare-faced lies designed to offer at least a partial fig leaf for failure, the remaining leaders of the collective west and NATO will, behind closed doors, be reeling. This could not be other than so. Look at the result and consequence of their doubling down until, outside of starting a nuclear war, they have nothing left to double down with. Arsenals across the West are all but bare, industrial capacity in the West is only capable of extremely slowly rebuilding them. NATO has been shown to be both a paper tiger and an overall negative when it comes to security. Russia will have one of the largest, most definitely most experienced army anywhere in the world. Russia’s prestige across the nations composing the global majority will be at sky high levels. BRICS will be further strengthened with an increasing number of nations seeking affiliation if not full membership. The Russian economy, already powering ahead, will rise to ever-greater heights.
The West? What of the West? Yet another gigantic failure. A humiliation arguably greater than any before in terms of its implications for the future. Prestige, powers, influence and global reach hugely shrunken and subject to the status of a laughing stock. Where do you think it could have the temerity to threaten then? Even if it dared, who would believe it after its total and overwhelming defeat at the hands of Russia? The answer is no one. Trying to shore up the damage by offering large bribes under the name of aid could well be tried and probably will. But the leaders of states now well outwith the control of the USA and its proxies will be laughing behind their hands.
The extent of the humiliation coming to all the nations of the West who aided and abetted the doubling down of the USA cannot be hidden except partially in the theater of western mass media deception, obfuscation and deceit. This is a very poor conciliation for whoever is left standing of the mendacious and overweeningly foolish and terminally arrogant leaders currently in place. They will take little consolation from this. The verdict of the major, economically powerful and populous nations of the global south who compose the global majority will be of inestimable importance and that verdict will be withering and hugely debilitating for the West. The speeding of the arrival of multipolarity will have been “achieved” by the communal stupidity and lack of insight demonstrated across the West.
This latter consequence, the inevitably speeded rise of the peer competitors of the West, the great powers of both Eurasia and Asia will hit harder month on month, year on years in the wake of the Ukrainian disaster. Shrinking visibly across the world stage back to its own borders the USA will be left to decline at ever faster pace, unable any longer to exploit the muscle that it previously abused so readily. Its decline will be speeded to a most precipitous extent with an internal level of social chaos as its economies shrink ever further as its eastern competitors inexorably rise. Who would wish to be within the borders of these states as expectations fostered to create consumption booms prove totally hollow, the American Dream well and truly dead and gone forever in a world that scorns the very mention of their nation’s name?
The egotistical, arrogant, interfering and murderous empire of the West is about to die by its own hand. Its leaders will fall like ninepins if there is any justice combined with a goodly level of insight that sees through the spin designed to gloss over their idiocy that brought about defeat. There will be no true escape for those scurrying around looking for shelter. They may burrow themselves away in grotesque fantasies mirroring the actions of George W. Bush after his comeuppance was avoided along with that of Anthony Blair. But the inner awareness of their guilt cannot so easily be avoided, nor can the catastrophic consequences for their nations.
